Bode George, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has described Abdul-Azeez Adediran, the party’s candidate in the 2023 governorship election in Lagos, as a “congenital liar”.

George spoke on Tuesday in a chat with Jimi Disu on Nigerian Info FM.

Adediran, popularly known as Jandor, joined the PDP from the All Progressives Congress (APC) before the 2023 elections and picked the party’s governorship ticket.

On Monday, he announced his return to the APC four days after meeting President Bola Tinubu in Abuja.

Speaking about the former PDP governorship candidate, George said Jandor taught PDP “a lesson,” noting that he had agreed to pick Gbadebo Rhodes-Viviour as his running mate but reneged.

“He is a congenital liar. We stumbled into him through an older, respectable leader who brought him. It was something unusual because Gbadebo (Rhodes-Vivour) was at the forefront (of the PDP governorship ticket), the party chieftain said.

“But when the respectable man brought Jandor, we had to make a decision because, in our culture, we respect the elderly.

“Gbadebo was on hand, but I asked him his age, and he said he was 39, and Jandor said he was 45. And I said, ‘We can work something out’.

“I concluded that Jandor had been vetted by the old man. Until we had agreed that he would choose Gbadebo as his running mate. Then Gbadebo stepped down after paying 21 million for the party’s governorship ticket.

“Then, one day, Fashola said on TV that Jandor was his former cameraman. That was when we started digging into him.

“All of the party’s elders have concluded that we will not listen to any input from anybody from now on. Let whoever wants to contest go to the field.

“It is a lesson that he (Jandor) taught us. When he got the ticket, he did not want to take Gbadebo as his running mate. He lives in a conundrum of lies.

“Our party doesn’t do that, and we, the elders, apologised profusely, vowing that what happened with Jandor would never repeat itself.”

… President declares state of emergency

… Appoints ex-CNA Ibas as Rivers administrator

… Atiku kicks

President Bola Tinubu has declared a state of emergency in Rivers State following the protracted political crisis in the state.

Tinubu made the proclamation during a nationwide broadcast on Tuesday, suspending Governor Siminalayi Fubara; his deputy Ngozi Odu; and all the members of the House of Assembly for six months.

The president nominated Vice Admiral Ibokette Ibas (rtd) as administrator to take charge of the affairs of the state for the first six months.

The president relied on Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution to make the proclamation. The section interprets a state of emergency as a situation of national danger, disaster or terrorist attacks in which a government suspends normal constitutional procedures to regain control.

A state of emergency allows the President to immediately make any desired regulations to secure public order and safety.

FULL TEXT: Tinubu’s Declaration Of State Of Emergency In Rivers State

On May 14, 2013, then-president Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency for the entire northeast insurgent-ridden states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa. A more limited state of emergency had been declared on December 31, 2011, in parts of Yobe, Borno, Plateau and Niger states. This earlier declaration included the temporary shutdown of the international borders in those regions.

For about two months, there seemed to be no end in sight in the protracted feud and power tussle between the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike; and his estranged ex-political godson Fubara over the control of the political structure in the oil-rich Rivers State.

Pipelines have reportedly exploded in the state as the political tension heightened, with civil servants threatening mass protests against the Martins Amaewhule group in the House of Assembly loyal to Wike.

Tinubu said, “The latest security reports made available to me show that between yesterday and today there have been disturbing incidents of vandalisation of pipelines by some militant without the governor taking any action to curtail them. I have, of course given stern order to the security agencies to ensure safety of lives of the good people of Rivers State and the oil pipelines.

“With all these and many more, no good and responsible President will standby and allow the grave situation to continue without taking remedial steps prescribed by the Constitution to address the situation in the state, which no doubt requires extraordinary measures to restore good governance, peace, order and security.

“In the circumstance, having soberly reflected on and evaluated the political situation in Rivers State and the Governor and Deputy Governor of Rivers State having failed to make a request to me as President to issue this proclamation as required by section 305(5) of the 1999 Constitution as amended, it has become inevitably compelling for me to invoke the provision of section 305 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended, to declare a state of emergency in Rivers State with effect from today, 18th March, 2025 and I so do.

“By this declaration, the Governor of Rivers State, Mr Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Mrs Ngozi Odu and all elected members of the House of Assembly of Rivers State are hereby suspended for an initial period of six months.

“In the meantime, I hereby nominate Vice Admiral Ibokette Ibas (Rtd) as Administrator to take charge of the affairs of the state in the interest of the good people of Rivers State.

“For the avoidance of doubt, this declaration does not affect the judicial arm of Rivers State, which shall continue to function in accordance with their constitutional mandate.

“The Administrator will not make any new laws. He will, however, be free to formulate regulations as may be found necessary to do his job, but such regulations will need to be considered and approved by the Federal Executive Council and promulgated by the President for the state.

“This declaration has been published in the Federal Gazette, a copy of which has been forwarded to the National Assembly in accordance with the Constitution.

“It is my fervent hope that this inevitable intervention will help to restore peace and order in Rivers State by awakening all the contenders to the constitutional imperatives binding on all political players in Rivers State in particular and Nigeria as a whole.”